Contents May Vary

I first was introduced to the artwork of the artist known as Another Well Kept Secret thanks to Tumblr and Sherlock. Her artwork shows a stylized humanity with very animated features - and she has a romantic flair that shows that love is indeed at the heart of everything she does.

Her real name is Kelley and she's from Tennessee. She's been on my list to interview for a while, but got bumped up partially because she's been upping her commissions to help offset the current economic downturn the virus has caused so many. We talk about her art, her being open about her asexuality, and her interest in Sherlock Holmes and Good Omens.

Alex DeVore is a culture editor for the Santa Fe Reporter. Additionally, Alex is the guitarist for the punk band Fibber: he's played music for over 20 years, but Fibber is a relatively new creation. We talk about his writing, why he plays (and plays punk specifically), and gaming as a medium and art form.

While living in Kansas City, I volunteered with the all-volunteer performing arts magazine KC Stage. We covered not only theatre, but any of the performing arts -- which included the surprisingly strong independent film scene (partially thanks to the, and faculty member Kevin Wilmott).

Additionally, I also (unsurprisingly) participated in a lot of geeky and sci fi activities and helped out with the all-volunteer website SciFi4Me.

So, when I heard Kansas City native Sav Rodgers had made a documentary in connection to a TED Talk about the movie Chasing Amy, I was understandably confused as to whether I knew him thanks to KC Stage or SciFi4Me. The thing is: I don't think we ever actually met in person prior to this interview.

I interview him about his TED Talk, being a queer filmmaker, and connecting to Kevin Smith. Head's up: there is some minor cursing in this episode.

Back in February, I attended my second Gallifrey One convention here in Los Angeles. While there, I managed to snag 30 minutes of time with animator and artist Alisa Stern, the woman behind the YouTube web series Doctor Puppet. We talk about what got her into animation, why she chose to do a Doctor Who-based series, and what's next on her plate now that she's decided to wrap it all up.

This is the third episode in my ongoing series where I interview women in the geek community about what their experiences were like, and their history as a fangirl.

Cerberusia is one of the women I had originally interviewed back in 2014, when I was visiting London. I had been working on an article on fan fiction for the company I was interning at, and had reached out to Tumblr to find people outside of my fandom areas to quote. Since she was based in the UK (Oxford, to be precise), I asked if she would be interested in a further interview.

Obviously, time has passed since that interview, and so when I decided to get back to doing these, we agreed to redo the interview. We have a great discussion about what it means to be a geek, how she fangirls, and the future of geek culture.

I've attended the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards several times now. In fact, Episode 22 of this podcast was covering the 2017 ceremony. Attending this awards ceremony is always fun, and this year was no different. This was the 35th annual awards ceremony, and the them was Retro Robotics. 

The keynote was a 'Science Fiction 101' by journalist Ed Hulse. Illustrator Bob Eggleton was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, who is also the artist of this year's anthology. 

Andrew Dykstal took home the Grand Prize Writer Award, and Aliya Chen took home the Grand Prize Illustrator Award. Meanwhile, Alice Wang, who won the fourth quarter illustrator award, became the youngest winner to enter and win. Finally, one of the winners, Preston Dennett, submitted 47 times prior to winning this year, earning 12 honorable mentions over the years. 

While as with all red carpets my interviews here are brief, I did manage to snag contact information for a couple of the people I talked to in the hopes of getting longer interviews with them, as I did with Kevin J. Anderson and Nancy Kress last year. I also have some excerpts from the ceremony itself. 

I first heard about what is known as WhedonCon back in 2016, when I wrote an article for SciFi4Me about it changing its name. It, like GallifreyOne, is a Los Angeles-based con that I first heard about once I moved here. 

Since that initial article, I'd kept my eye on it and started seeing posts from one of the people who run it in some of my other geeky groups. Marsia Powers is a Los Angeles real estate agent by day, Whedon fan by ... well, by all free time? She not only helps manage the con, but she also helps run the fan sites Whedonopolis and Fandomopolis, which you may have noticed I've written for occasionally in the past year. 

I set down with Marsia and talked about Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, being a fan, and WhedonCon. 

 I've been a fan of the Reduced Shakespeare Company (and their podcast) for a long time. In fact, I jokingly refer to Austin Tichenor, the one who does the weekly podcast, as the 'honorary godfather' of G33K Out, as that podcast was one of the many influences on G33K Out, and its predecessor Stage Savvy. 

If you're unfamiliar with their work, the RSC has been around since 1981, and started with a variation of what's now know as The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) at various Renaissance fairs. They've been touring their latest production, William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (Abridged), including a stop in Los Angeles. 

I sat down with Austin Tichenor and Reed Martin of the RSC. We talked about being an actor and playwright, how things have changed when they first started, and the various details of working together and doing comedy.  

Petrea Burchard is an actor, author, audiobook narrator, and voiceover  artist. We met at a writer's group we both belong to, when Petrea did a  presentation on audiobooks. As someone who listens to audiobooks when I  have time in-between listening to podcasts, I was already intrigued. But  when she said she was the original English voice of Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo, she had me hooked.
 

Petrea has written two books, has narrated the Westwick Witches mystery  series, and has done both stage and screen, among other things. We talk  about all of this, and more.  

 For my second roundtable, we discuss shipping -- and some of the taboos that come out of it.  

 Fangirling is an art. I talk to one of the women behind the podcast Your Biggest Fangirl, Victoria Male.  

In the second of my ongoing series where I interview women in the geek community about their experiences, I talk to Baker Street Babe Sora Reyes.

 Hansi Oppenheimer is a filmmaker who has considered herself a fangrrl since at least the age of 6, but wanted to explore what it meant to be a woman in fandom. What was originally going to be a feature film turned into the ongoing YouTube documentary project, Squee! The Fangrrl Project. I sat down with Hansi and talked about what it means to be a fangirl, her approach to creating the documentary, and where she wants to go from here. 

 Nikola Tesla is considered by many geeks to be an unsung hero of the 20th century. The inventor of alternating current and many other ideas that we now use regularly, the man is hardly known outside of the geek realms outside of in a vague way.

Composer Aaron Guzzo was fascinated by the man, and decided to write a musical based on his life. I sat down with Guzzo and discussed the musical, his process as a composer, and how he got from Indiana to Los Angeles and how that helped bring the musical to life. 

 There’s been a lot of talk in the last few months about the toxicity in the Star Wars fandom, specifically in the backlash against The Last Jedi. How it connects to women and people of color in fandom is not an accident. So, I got together with some women to discuss the female perspective on the issue.  

 Back in June, I attended the red carpet premiere for the short movie about Ulugh Beg, and had a chance to talk to some of the people involved.

 On June 7, I was lucky enough to attend the red carpet for the series finale of the Netflix show Sense8. Much of the cast was there, and there was a sense of sadness and hope as I interviewed them. 

Tom Smith has been filking since the 1980s, and has a loyal fanbase ranging around the world. He’s been recognized by Dr. Demento and Larry Niven, and more. He’s been nominated (and won) a boatload of Pegasus Awards, which recognizes excellence in filking. We talk about what got him into filking, how he deals with the world today, and his process for writing music. 

Back in 2014, I decided I wanted to start a series of interviews with women in the community to discuss what it was like. I finally am getting around to producing some of those interviews.

Supriya and I met, as mentioned in the interview, thanks to a Facebook Sherlock fan group for those in Southern California. At the time, she worked for Geek and Sundry, although now she works for DeviantArt. Originally from the Silicon Valley area, she moved to Los Angeles to look for work. We talk Harry Potter, Reddit, and other topics. 

 If you know me at all, you know I've been a fan of Doctor Who for most of my life. I’ve written about it extensively on this website. So, when I had the chance at a ticket for this year's Gallifrey One, I jumped at the chance. Here are my thoughts. 

 In February, I had the chance to attend the red carpet premiere of Living Among Us, a movie shot in the style of a documentary that assumes vampires are real and just made themselves public. (Yes, I do bring up the similarities to What We Do In the Shadows, although as the trailer shows, it’s more in the vein of Blair Witch Project.) While there, I interviewed a wide range of people, both there as part of the movie and just to support it.

 Last year, when I attended the 2017 Writers of the Future Awards, I got a chance to interview author Kevin J. Anderson, who was one of the judges. Alas, the audio went to The Bad Place, lost in the ether. However, he thankfully was happy enough to do a phone interview with me later that month.

Last October, I got to yet again attend Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con, formerly known as Comikaze. My second time attending, this time I only went one day. This convention, now in its sixth year, was Los Angeles’ first major comic convention. As with any convention, there were plenty of panels, celebrities, and artists and vendors to go about. 

 Back in April, I attended the 2017 Writers of the Future Awards. While there, I was lucky enough to connect with author Nancy Kress, who was one of the judges. Author of 27 novels, 3 books on writing, and many, MANY short stories, she’s won 6 Nebulas and 2 Hugo Awards. I managed to do a phone interview with her, where we talked about her writing process, the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and her advice to new writers. 

 On August 22, in partnership with the online fundraising platform Omaze and Make-a-Wish, there was a live tribute to him. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, Extraordinary: Stan Lee boasted a wide range of celebrities coming out to honor the creator. I managed to get on the red carpet and get some interviews down with some of them.  

 Back in late April, I attended the 2017 LA Times Festival of Books. The largest book festival in the US, this free annual event celebrates the written word. With panels on a variety of topics, readings and interviews with authors, and even music performances, there’s always something for everyone. This was my third year attending. While I was there, I interviewed many of the people in the various vendor booths throughout the festival.

 "Hey: it's that one guy!" It's the cry of many a character actor (so much so that it's got its own page on TV Tropes, and for actor Stephen Tobolowsky, that's fine with him. Appearing in over 200 films and/or television episodes, you may know him as the insurance salesman in Groundhog Day, the substitute teacher Sandy Ryerson in Glee, or from any number of various roles. 

In 2014, I had the chance to interview him. He was going to be at that year's LA Festival of Books. He's coming back to this year's LA Festival of Books, promoting his newest book, My Adventures with God, and so I thought it was a great chance to bring this interview out from storage. 

 On April 2, I attended the 33rd annual Writers of the Future Award ceremony. With a dragon gracing the red carpet and the stage. the ceremony had a keynote from the co-founder and president of Dragon*Con Pat Henry, and presented this year's Lifetime Achievement Award to Mike Resnick.

The 12 writers and illustrators received this year's awards, with Jake Marley winning the Golden Pen Award for his submission "Acquisition", and Michael Michera winning the Golden Brush Award for his illustration that went with C.L. Kagmi's story, "The Drake Equation".

The podcast combines some of the interviews I managed to get while attending and excerpts from the award ceremony. 

 Marco Beltrami is no stranger to composing movies in the sci fi and superhero world. His first major breakthrough was doing the score for Wes Craven’s Scream, and you may recognize his music from such genre favorites as Hellboy, Mimic, The Faculty, and even worked with Philip Glass for the 2015 version of Fantastic Four. He's been nominated for an Oscar for his scores for both 3:10 to Yuma and The Hurt Locker.

In early March, I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone about his latest project Logan, the latest — and possibly last — Wolverine movie starring Hugh Jackman. 

 While at the 2016 Wondercon, I also had the chance to talk with some of the people at another panel, "Streaming Success: Behind-the-Scenes of Your Favorite Binge Worthy Shows".

The panel discussed the original content of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and some of the people that work on the various shows produced by them. My associate Hope Donoghue and I first talked to James ("Jimmy") Levine and Sean Callery. We then talked to David Van Dyke, VFX producer and (at the time) vice president of Shade VFX (he's now president). 

 Last March, I attended WonderCon here in Los Angeles. I (and a few others) covered it for SciFi4Me.com, and I had a lot more content that I never had time to do anything with.

One such item was a chance to meet up with some of the guys that were on the "High Scorers Panel: Star Composers of the Video Game World". The panel was, obviously, music composers for video games talking about their work. I managed to get a chance to interview some of them before the panel. I first talked to Gordy Haab and Niels Bye Nielsen, and then I talked to Bill Brown and John Kaefer.

 Last September, I covered an agent’s roundtable event for Camera Angles. The event was part of the Emerging Cinematographer Awards, a way to bring advice for how to make it in the film industry to the award winners. The chair of the awards is cinematographer Jimmy Matlosz, and he gave the up and coming honorees some great advice during the event.

I sat down with Jimmy at his home to discuss what exactly a cinematographer does, his work process, and his latest project.  

 On September 7, I had the opportunity to attend the red carpet for the world premiere of the parody science fiction film Unbelievable!!!!! Written and directed by Steven L. Fawcette, the movie stars or has cameos from 40 Star Trek actors, and follows the adventures of four astronauts, one of which is a marionette. I had the opportunity to interview several of the cast and crew of both the movie, as well as the Star Trek universe.  

 Ash Vs. Evil Dead is getting ready for it’s second season, and was one of the many panels at the 2016 PaleyFest Fall TV Previews event.

I had the chance to attend the red carpet for the screening of the first episode of season two. I interviewed guest stars Lee Majors, Ted Raimi, and Michelle Hurd, and then series regulars Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, and Bruce Campbell.

 From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series is entering it’s third season on Netflix and on the El Rey Network. The series is based off the movie of the same name, and follows the adventures of the Gecko Brothers as they take on vampires and other forces of hell.

I had the chance to attend the red carpet for the screening of the first episode of season 3. I interviewed Diego Gutierrez (executive producer), Sarah Minnich (Florinda), Marko Zaror (Zolo), Danny Trejo (The Regulator), and Maurice Compte (Brasa) about the show.  

This year, I was able to attend the genre panels and screenings of PaleyFest Fall TV Previews. For my first event, I got to attend screenings of Son of Zorn and The Exorcist, both on Fox this fall.

I decided to do something different this time around, and try a video version of G33K Out, and do a mini review of the shows. The sound's a little loud in this trial, so apologies.

In late February, I had the chance to attend the red carpet premiere of LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League Cosmic Clash. The fifth LEGO DC Comics film, the movie is about the villain Brainiac’s attempt to 'collect' Earth. 

I interviewed several of the voice cast as well as the producer, screenwriter, and director. We covered everything to what it was like to be a voice actor to what makes the LEGO movies different. 

Back in December, I attended the Share the Force event at LA Live, sponsored by Target. Part of the marketing juggernaut for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the two-day event had themed origami projects, a 'see the galaxy' show, Legos galore, the ability to use the force through Emotiv headsets, and merchandise and fan memorabilia from Rancho Obi-Wan.

Narcopolis is new film in the time travel genre, involving a dystopian world where drugs are legal and there's a conspiracy involving a new super-drug and the mega-corp that makes it. I had a Skype conversation with the producer, writer, and director Justin Trefgarne, where we talked about his background (including what draws him to science fiction), his process for both writing and directing (and whether he can separate the two roles), doing a science fiction movie on a strict budget, and where he got the idea behind the movie. It all started with a storage locker.

On Saturday, August 1, I had the privilege of attending the red carpet premiere of Star Trek: Renegades. I managed to catch Adrienne Wilkinson, Robert Picardo, Vic Mignogna, Kevin Fry, Larissa Gomes, Tim Russ, Eugene Byrd, Cela Scott, Jason Matthew Smith, and Rico Anderson.

The movie Self/Less, set to be released July 10, 2015, is about the ultimate method of immortality: Damian (Ben Kinglsey) is a wealthy man who, when told he is dying, decides to transfer his consciousness into a younger body (Ryan Reynolds). But as with all such deals, there is more at the heart of the project than is realized.

I did a phone interview with neuroscientist Charles Higgins to talk about some of the science that the movie is based on, as well as what makes us individuals, what differs us from machines, and how close the science gets in the movie.

Cosplay is a large part of conventions nowadays, with even its own celebrities such as Yaya Han. I talked with Christine Kasal Parascandolo (executive producer) and Gulliver Parascandolo (director), with the new documentary Cosplay Dreams 3D. The movie will be premiering at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival on December 6, 2014.

While I had Miracle Laurie on hand for an interview for her work in the new web series Nobility, we talked a bit further about her process as an actress and about female representation in science fiction, which naturally led to her work on Dollhouse.

Comedy science fiction is a rare beast. Nobility is a new science fiction comedy web series currently in production. Set 700 years in the future, it's a mockumentary-style show about the crew of the C.A.S. Nobility.While at Comikaze, I got to speak to two of the stars, Torri Higginson and Miracle Laurie, and director Neil Johnson about this project.

Being a fan can take on many different facets: from fan fiction to cosplay to artwork, fans express their passion in many different forms. But there's one aspect that gets a certain type of charge.I got the chance to talk briefly with Russell with the R2 Builders Club about why he does it, and how. 

In May of 2014, Huston Huddleston launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a science fiction museum in the heart of Hollywood, California. He was at the 2014 Comikaze Expo to promote the museum with some of the item intended for the museum to display, including the Back to the Future DeLoreaon and the KITT car from Knight Rider.

Hear what he has to say about what prompted him to start the museum, and his goals for it.